Voters strongly support medicinal marijuana, paid sick leave initiatives

Legalizing medicinal cannabis

Two ballot initiatives that would legalize medicinal marijuana passed Tuesday, though the issue will likely remain in limbo pending the outcome of a civil trial.

Ballot initiative 437 would make it so healthcare practitioners would be able to recommend the use of medical cannabis, and patients, with or without the assistance of a caregiver, would be able to possess and use medical cannabis.

Ballot initiative 438 would create a Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to regulate the possession, manufacture, distribution, delivery, and dispensing of medical cannabis by registered private businesses.

The legality of the ballot initiatives is being questioned in a civil trial that will be ruled on after the election.

The discrepancy is over fraudulent signatures and fraudulent notarizations. John Kuehn, a veterinarian from central Nebraska and former state senator, is the one who filed the lawsuit, saying because of the discrepancy, the petition backers did not have enough signatures.

Those arguing on behalf of the petitioners said there was no “clear and convincing evidence” of fraud, and throwing out entire petitions would punish thousands of Nebraskan voters.

Gov. Jim Pillen, speaking at a Republican watch party, spoke in opposition to the pair of initiatives.

“It's really important if you believe in kids, that you vote no about marijuana, and it's really important that if you believe in businesspeople, farmers and ranchers making decisions how to run their business, that you vote no to the ballot initiatives, because it's not who we are,” he said.

The pair of ballot initiatives was led by the group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, and supported by Families 4 Medical Cannabis, Growing the Good Life and Teamsters Local 554.

Supporters of the initiatives cite a 2017 report released by The National Academies of Science that cannabis is effective in treating chronic illness, as well as a 2015 study and the DEA saying there have been no reported deaths from overdose of cannabis.

Those against the initiatives have argued the initiatives contradict federal law, and that passing them prior to FDA approval is premature. Opponents of the initiatives also argued there is no regulation over where patients can or cannot use the cannabis.

There have been multiple efforts to legalize medical cannabis both in the Unicameral and by petition since the mid-2010s. In 2020, the Nebraska Supreme court ruled that a medical cannabis measure set to appear on the ballot was unconstitutional. The Justices concluded it violated Nebraska’s “single subject rule,” in that the proposed ballot measure contained more than one subject for voters to consider.

For that reason, there are two ballot initiatives on the 2024 ballot. There was an attempt to get the two initiatives on ballot in 2022, but the campaign fell short on signatures.

Paid sick leave

Ballot initiative 436, which would make it so most employers in Nebraska are required to give their employees paid sick leave, also received support from the majority of voters.

The amount of paid sick leave would be contingent on the size of the business. According to the law, if the business has fewer than 20 employees, the employees are entitled to up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually. If the business has more than 20 employees, the employees are entitled to up to 56 hours of paid sick leave annually. This would go into effect starting October 1st, 2025.

Prior to this now law, the state of Nebraska did not have a law regarding mandatory paid sick leave, and the initiative was launched to create a minimum amount for Nebraska businesses to follow. It will not affect companies that already meet or exceed the requirements created by this initiative.

The initiative has details such as the rate at which sick time is collected, how it carries over into the next year and how and when it can be used. It also includes language preventing an employer from retaliating against employees who use sick time.

This initiative includes a section at the end where if any part of the act is ruled unconstitutional or invalid, the removal of that part will affect the validity of the other parts.

Those for the initiative have stated that allowing employees to have paid sick leave would benefit both employees and business, while those against the initiative feel it would harm small and medium sized businesses by raising their operating costs.

This ballot initiative was primarily funded by the Washington D.C based Open Society Policy Center, 1630 fund and The Fairness Project, along with the statewide organization Nebraska Appleseed. Other local organizations such as the Women’s Fund of Omaha and the ACLU of Nebraska have voiced support for the initiative.